House_rent_allowance_HRA
House Rent Allowance (HRA) is best tax saving tools available to employees. With these you can save upto 50% of your salary if you reside in Metro (40% of your salary if you reside in non-metro).
As per income Tax act, for calculation House rent allowance least of the following is available as deduction :
- Actual HRA received
- 50% / 40%(metro / non-metro) of basic ‘salary’
- Rent paid minus 10% of ‘salary’.
Basic Salary for this purpose is basic+ DA forming part+ commission on sale on fixed rate.
Metro Cities: Cities Like, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata constitutes Metro.
Non Metro Cities: All cities other than these are non-Metro. So if you resides in cites like Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad etc it would constitutes as Non metro and only 40% deduction will be allowed.
If actual rent paid is lower than 10% of your basic salary you receive no exemption. The other key point is that you cannot claim any exemption under this section if you live in your own home or if you are not paying rent to anyone.
Important point before claiming HRA: It is generally seen that employees in order to save tax, give HRA to their father, mother or wife.
1) You can give HRA to your parents but make sure that your parents actually own the house, for which you are paying the rent. ie the registry is the name of parent.
When paying rent to parents ensure that parents include the rental income in their total income while filing their tax return.
2) Avoid paying rent to your wife, if she is not owner of the house for which you are paying the rent.
2 b) If your wife has purchased house from her own income then you an consider paying rent to her.
3) Make sure to whom so ever you are paying rent, is actually filing income tax return and showing this rental income in his / or her income.
PAN No of Landlord compulsory if Rent Exceeds Rs 1,00,000/- in a year
Que: Can I claim both HRA and Housing loan benefit?
Income tax benefits for both home loan and HRA are governed by different sections of income tax act.
As long as you are paying rent for an accommodation, you can claim tax benefits on the HRA component of your salary, while also availing tax benefits on your home loan.
Make sure that you include rental income from the property you own under income from house property.
Que: I am paying rent in cash for Rs 15,000/- but my Landlord is not providing me with PAN copy. What should I do?
Unfortunately, There is no legal way you can force landlord to provide pan copy.
Rent and HRA is one of the effective tax planning tips for salaried employees. It make sense
to claim full HRA tax benefit.
Way out in such case where landlord is not providing PAN copy is:
- Look for new landlord and before moving to new home check if he is ready to provide pan copy.
- You can look for any friend or relative who is taking housing loan interest benefit and has actually not leased out his property. If housing loan interest is high and he will be showing his property as deemed to be let out. In this case he will get name of tenant and you will HRA benefit.
It will be win – win situation for both of you.
I have a home loan against a house in Bangalore but currently I am staying in Mumbai in rented house.
My parents are staying in my house in bangalore (not rented).
Can I claim tax benefits on both home loan as well as HRA?
Pruthvi, you can claim income tax benefit for both Bangalore and Mumbai. You will be able to claim both Interest on housing loan for Bangalore and Rent for Mumbai home
Instead of HRA, Company is providing me lease accomodation and for that company is paying rent of Rs.5000/- per month to owner of flat. whole amount is added in my salary(value of perquisites as per form no. 12BA) My salary basic is rs. 18080+DA 10000 . How much HRA exemption I can claim?
Ravindra, Your company has provided lease accommodation and you are not getting HRA in your salary component, you will not be able to claim HRA benefit.
I am staying abroad for 6 months while my family is staying in INDIA and using same rental property which I was using prior to leave to Abroad. My comapny is paying me HRA as usual for whole 12 months. Am I eligible for getting HRA exemption for all 12 months (as my family is using this rented property in INDIA) or only for 6 months ?
Ritesh, you will be able to claim HRA benefit for full year, for Rent paid by you, for your family
i forgot to give HRA document in company for tax exemption… can i get money back by filling ITR ????
Rahul,
You can claim tax refund by filing income tax return
But how to do it ?
Where do we put the HRA amount in ITRV1 ?
And do we need to attach any docs along with the ITRV ?
Sharath, No documents are required to be attached with ITR, please do calculation and file ITR2
You can Submit a Revised IT Return Before Complation of a Financial Year
I had missed submitting my HRA documents for HRA exemptions for this assesement years. Can anybody explain me the process of submitting again or the process of any subsequent adjustment.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
If you have missed HRA in your salary declaration the same can now be claimed while filing your income tax return.
to get hra exmption… wht documents needed… & whr to submit? my landlady is widow.. she is not even filling any return… is it still admissible?
To Claim HRA, you require Rent receipt, Rent agreement, and PAN no of land lord/ landlady. Please note PAN is complusory only if Rent Exceeds Rs 16,000/- pm
Is it not compulsory to furnish the pan card details if the rent exceeds 15000/- pm ? Was this changed anytime ?
For claiming HRA, PAN no is compulsory if, rent exceeds rs 16000/- p.m
Hi Buddy,
Can you please share the link from Income tax department official website mentioning limit as 16000.
Pradeep there is no link available. 16000*12 = 192000, this amount is less than Rs 2 lac, ie basic exemption limit. Since any person is giving rent less then basic exemption limit, therefore no requirement for PAN Copy
Hello,
I have a flat in Talegaon (which comes under the Talegaon grampanchayat – possession taken) near Pune (i.e. falls outside of Pune city limits). Currently, I am staying in Pune on a rental basis. As these two places are considered to be different cities, can I claim tax exemption on HRA as well as the interest on house property?
Yes you can claim both benefits
Hello,
I have purchased a flat on under construction stage, and paying pre EMI interest, living in currently on rent accommodation. Can I get benefit of tax rebate on it?
There is no tax benefit for under construction property
Hi,
I am a professional(doctor) and i,m getting my salary as professional fees paid to me. Am i eligible to reduce my house rent from my gross income?
Since you are getting paid as professional salary you can not claim HRA. You can however claim normal business expenditure while your tax return.
My owner has made a registered agreement with all my PAN details and all.
Q1) Do i need to update all agreemnt and receipt to cliam HRA? Wouldn’t that be added directly in IT database automatically?
Q2) What if i change the premise mid way and have a normal Rent agreement there with more Rent paid this time? Wont the IT return people say we have your registered agreemnt details so you are claiming wrongly??
Rajesh,
Mere registering agrement with PAN no dont update income tax records.So dont worry about this
I have purchased home at pune n working in Vapi(Gujrat).
I have given that home for rent basis, then how much exemption will get me for Interest on home loan (1.5 lakh or actual interest paid)
In case house is given on rent, then you can claim full interest amount paid.
I am paying Rs. 5000+ 350 as monthly rent and have rent agreement but the landlord is not givimg me rent receipt.Also I am paying rent in cash so how do I claim hra???
Sonam Ideally, your landlord should not be having problem in giving receipt. Since you already have rent agreement, for claiming HRA, you can create this receipt yourself and give to your company.
Hello,
My basic is 38934 (basic+da).
My father owns the house and I stay with him. My father used to be a businessman but from past few years he’s retired and is not filling returns. I’d like to save tax by paying him House Rent. But I’ve read in few websites that person getting the House Rent (my father) must show that income while filing return. (is it compulsory for my father to file a return if total income including rent income is below 2lac limit?)
I would like to know that even if he’s not filling return can I pay him the House Rent (do agreement, do cheque payment n get a receipt) and show to employer to get the benefit of tax exemption ?
Hello Jiten,
Since your father income is less than Rs 2 lac, as per law he is not required to file income tax return as. But since you are paying him rent, it is advisable to file his return.
Hello,
myself working on per day wages with one PSU, can i apply for HRA exception? in ITR, as company directly cut 15% flat on gross monthly income for income tax deduction
Abhishek,
You will not be able to claim HRA benefit, since your are not getting salary from your employer.
Hello,
I have recently chnaged my Job and relocating to Hyderabad.
Due to kids education my family will continue in Bangalore and will be staying in a rented house while I will share a room/flat with my colleague in the new location.
Can I claim the HRA for my Bangalore residence instead of hyderabad as the Rents are more in Bangalore
I am staying in a flat which my dad has bought am sending 15000 rs a month can i claim as house rent allowance?
Shaheen,
Sure you can claim HRA benefit on rent paid to your dad. Please ensure that your dad show this rent in his income tax return as income from house property.
My owner is neither signing the rent receipt nor he is giving his PAN card number. I’m only having rental agreement. I’m paying 12000 rs towards rent. What I’m suppose to do for tax exemption?
Without PAN card you will be, allowed maximum of Rs 1 lakh rent p.a.
I am confused what if my landlord doesn’t have a PAN Card and i pay 15K/month as my rent.
will the declaration of no PAN card from my landlord + rent receipts will do.
and i guess bangalore is non-metro.
Thanks
Since landlord doesnot have a PAN card, declaration from him that he does not have PAN is sufficient.
i want to know i stay in Vaishali which in under NCR . hence my HRA will considered under metro or non metro ..please help
Vaishali i considered as non- metro for purpose of HRA calcualtions
Dear, i hve recently done rent agreement in December 2013 with landlord of the house. plz let me know can i get HRA benefit for full financial year 2013-14 or only for 4 months from December-2013 to March-2014.
You can will get HRA benefit for the period for which you have actually paid the rent.
My mother is a pensioner from Central Govt. and is in the Taxable range of 10%
Other than saving of normal 1 lakh , whether she can save in any other head to reduce the tax liability. PPF + Medical Insurance put together is 1 lakh. Is any other head can she save upon. How about House rent ? She is staying in my house and nor she or me claiming for same in IT return.
Hi,
Actually, I am leaving in rented appartment with my friend. My friend has rent agreement prepared with his name only. Can I furnish this agreement for HRA exepmtion which not even include my name?
Also, my friend is actually paying rent by online transfer to owner and I am doing cash payment to my friend. In this case, can I prepare rent receipt of my part share only and furnish the same in company?
Hi,
I am currently living in a rented apartment and will be living there for next 3-4 months. I have bought a flat at outskirts of city (Pune). This project comes under a Gram Panchayat and it’s not part of Pune Municipal Corporation (My rented house belongs to PMC area).
Also, though I have taken possession of property(Jan 2014), there is some work going on and I have no plans to shift there until May. (Another reason being my company also shifting in May from it’s current place to a place nearer to my new flat.)
Now as I am paying both rent and EMIs I claimed exemption for both, but my company is saying that I can’t claim HRA from JAN 2014 onwards.
Is their statement valid? Because I heard that one can claim both benefits if their own house and rented house are not in same city and own house is not occupied.
Hi,
I have a rental house in Hyderabad my property is registered under my wife & my name, now she is not working can I provide by Wife PAN number for my tenants or both (me & my wife) PAN numbers are required. if my wife PAN is sufficient, does she has to file tax returns?
Regards,
Sudheer Kumar C
I occupy a company leased accommodation rent for which is added to my salary for taxation. There is an element of HRA in my salary structure that is also fully included for the purposes if IT. Is this component of HRA not eligible for IT deduction as usual? Also, what about the fallacy of double taxation on the single payout as rent by the Company – I pay IT on it as my income while the same amount is also part of the income of the house owner leasing out the property. Is such double taxation permitted under Law?
Hi,
I am working in a private company on salary 21500*12=258000. On account of TDS my company is asking my investment details for the year 2013-2014.
I am paying house rent 4500*12=54000
I am paying for my child school 1300*12=15600
Can I furnish these for availing exemption on TDS?
Thanks
Kamal
Yes you can
My land loard not giving me the PAN no.
But as per new rule I can show HRA 8500 Max without PAN no.
Can I show home loan intrest of two loan in addition to HRA 8500 MAX Without PAN no.
I have given my house for rent @ 9,000/- per month. How much I have to pay income tax. I am already paying tax as I am a pensioner.
Please use income tax calculator to view your income tax liability.
If any person posted in Delhi but he resides in noida, so what % we consider 50% or 40% ?
Dear Sir/Ma’am,
I have changed house in midway. I stayed in a rented house for 6 months and move into another for 6 months. If PAN card of landlord has to be shown where the annual rent paid exceeds Rs. 1,00,000. what if the rent paid remains 90000 for 6 months and 90000 for next 6 months for two different landlords. Then no landlord comes under this law.
Am i right?
I’m staying with my parents. My house is on my grandmother’s name. But she is no more. Still name transfer has not done. Can i pay rent to my parents?
I provided my HRA details to my compay for tax filing, and due to my landlord’s oversight provided the wrong PAN card number. The company has rejected the same and says it cannot do anything about it. Is there anyway i can file for this directly with the IT department? How do i ensure that i dont lose out on these tax savings?
You can consider HRA benefit while filing your income tax returns
You said that I can pay rent to my parents who own the house. If so then my mother who actually own the house will have 1.59lacs as her yearly income which would be through house rent. Since this amount is beneath 2lac taxable cadre so is there any need for her to file her income?
That is correct
Sir
my monthly salary is RS 28,000.00 .due to companies funds issues I am not getting my salary for the month of december 13 jauary,feb & mrach 2014. does these 4 months salary will be calculated my income for the fy 13-14.
Sir,
How is the rent paid calculated for tax exemption. Is it pro-rated based on the date of joining. I recently joined a company on 09th Apr. Rent paid for month of Apr is 12000, whereas, company has taken 8800 for the purpose of calculation. Please clarify.
My rental agreement is from 01 Apr 14.
Rent for HRA purpose is taken on pro rata basis. ie actual date of joining
I am paying the rent to my owner 15000 monthly. He has shared the pan card. But he says that he does not have income more then 2 lakhs. Do he still need to file his income tax?
Any person whose income is below Rs 2 lac , is not required to file income tax return. But it is always advisable to file tax return, since it is valid and must document if one apply for home loan, car loan, or passport.
Hi,
I actually switched my company last year. I could not declare my house rent amount in any of my company. so no tax was deducted considering HRA as actual income. My form 16 does not show tax exemption for HRA. Can I declare house rent in tax return and claim my money.
Yes, you can claim the benefit of HRA while filing your tax return.
Do I need to submit proof as part of filling post document
Dear Sir,
I am propritor (Self Employeed running a manpower Consultancy). living in Rented Flat In Mira Road- Thane. and i did not File Income Tax Return Yet.
1- how much i can claim as HRA for FY-2013-14.
2- Also How much Agriculture income can be tax free.
Please Help me ASAP.
Regards
Ahmad
HRA can be availed by only salaried employees. For self employed you can avail benefit under section 80GG ie upto Rs 2000 as rent.
Their is no limit on agriculture income
Hi,
I am a married woman. Currently I am supporting my parents and paying their house rent. Can i claim HRA benefits for this? I do not reside with my parents and stay along with my husband.
Hi
I am paying rent for my house where me n my husband live.
rent agreement is on my husbands name .
can i claim tax redemption on rent ?
he is not claiming the same at his work place because he has loans and all to cover up.
can i claim the same ?
Since Rent agreement is made in your husbands name, you cannot claim HRA rent benefit. Please change the agreement in your name to claim full benefit.
What is the logic behind the last clause? It means that higher my basic salary, the lower the exemption I’ll get. This is complete nonsense. If I have a basic salary of 6Lac and I pay a rent of 1Lac monthly, then as per this rule I’ll only get an exemption of 40k. Help me understand if I’m missing a point.
Rahul, You are right, That is why all companies keep HRA 50% of basic salary.
Is rent agreement compulsory if I am showing rent of 8000 pm.
kindly advice.
No it is not compulsory
And how much can I claim? Because that depends on Basic and HRA.
Please advice.
Sir Please use our excel based HRA calculator, It will calculate Tax benefit on HRA for you.
I bought house using loan and paying monthly emi and I rented out for 10,000/- per month with agreement, now the tenant is asking for PAN Copy for his HRA purpose, should I share that, is this safe? Thanks in advance.
Yes Prakash, It is safe to share PAN copy with lease. But make sure that income your are earning from this rent is added in your total income.
Sir. I am central government employee. And I live with my father in pune. My basic salary is 12000 and I get 20% of HRA in my salary. I want to avail tax benefit but problem is though my father owns the house the property tax receipt has my grandfather’s name. So what to do?
Secondly registered rent agreement is compulsory or only receipt and affidavit is enough?
Since rent exceeds Rs 1 lac p.a. yout employer wou;d required rent receipt. You can claim benefit of HRA by paying rent to your father. Make sure your father also show rental income in his tax return.
Do Bangalore is Metro or Non Metro for 2015?
Bangalore is non metro city for purpose of HRA.
Sir,
I joined new organisation in Month of August 2015. From April 2015 to July 2015 i was on sabbatical. Can i claim HRA for the whole year i.e 2015-16 or only for 8 months while filing my ITR. Please guide.
You Will able to claim HRA for period you got salary and working. You are not entitled to claim HRA during Sabbatical leave.
I allotted a flat in 2010 from GNoida Authority for which I took loan from bank and still I am paying EMI. But due to legal issues (Supreme court stay on land where flats were constructing), the Authority allotted me an alternative flat in some different location in 2016 and recently gave me possession. Can I avail the income tax rebate on my EMI (Home Loan). If
Hi Sir,
I am staying in varanasi, I parents stay in Delhi.
Can I show that I am paying rent in delhi??
What if I have taken 02 houses for rent which I am paying, one for my wife and another for my parents. Can I claim HRA for the rent paid for both houses. Thanks for your response.